Courtesy / USL to Portland
A rendering shows how 6,000-seat Fitzpatrick Stadium might be renovated to accommodate a professional soccer team in Portland.
July 20, 2021
Portland will consider plans for pro soccer stadium, after getting OK as franchise site
Courtesy / USL to Portland
A rendering shows what a potential soccer stadium near Preble Street in Portland might look like.
By William Hall
Backers of a proposed pro soccer team in Portland may be closing in on their goal, now that the city has received an official OK for an expansion franchise.
But first the team needs a stadium, and a Portland City Council committee on Tuesday is scheduled to discuss possible places for the pitch.
USL League One, the smallest of the USL professional soccer leagues, has granted a franchise to a group in Portland — contingent on the availability of a stadium, USL spokesman Cameron Koubek told Mainebiz on Tuesday morning.
The group, USL to Portland, will ask the Housing & Economic Development Committee for input on a potential arena. Two ideas are under consideration: a stadium to be built near the city’s Preble Street Field, next to Back Cove, and the possible renovation of Fitzpatrick Stadium in Deering Oaks Park.
Either choice would require construction and site improvements, a lease with the city, and an estimated cost of $10 million to $12 million, according to USL to Portland.
USL to Portland is led by Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, a former Falmouth High School soccer star who has also played professionally, and developer Jonathan Culley, principal of Portland-based Redfern Properties LLC.
Since raising $500,000 in initial funding over a year ago, Hoffman-Johnson, Culley and other investors have been working to get a franchise going. But until now, there’s been no official green light.
Hoffman-Johnson did not respond to inquiries from Mainebiz, but materials for the Tuesday presentation outline his group’s case.
After a “lengthy analysis,” USL to Portland says in its proposal, “It became apparent that a downtown stadium is critical to both community impact and commercial viability. Preble Street Field and Fitzpatrick Stadium identified as viable locations.”
Among the reasons for the sites are accessibility, visibility, land availability and the USL’s standards. They require a stadium with at least 3,500 seats for League One franchises. Fitzpatrick Stadium currently accommodates 6,000 spectators, but there are no stands at the Preble Street Field site.
“We have been working behind the scenes with city staff for more than a year to evaluate the two stadium options presented,” USL to Portland says in the proposal. “We are now seeking direction from the City Council and hope to begin negotiations with city staff for the renovation and lease of one of the two proposed stadium locations.”
If USL to Portland is successful and the city signs off on a stadium, the unnamed League One franchise would be another in a string of minor-league sports teams that have recently made new commitments to playing in Maine. They include the Maine Mariners, the pro hockey team that last month affiliated with the Boston Bruins, and the Maine Celtics, who have adopted the name of their parent team, the Boston Celtics.
While USL to Portland and the city's many soccer fans have been bullish on the idea of a pro franchise, not all USL teams have been successful.
Since 2015, at least 22 USL teams at the “championship” level — a rung above League One — have folded, changed names, moved, left the USL or dropped to a lower level. The USL Championship League now has 33 teams, and a dozen teams currently play in League One.
“There’s a long history of lower-division soccer and that’s been a tumultuous history,” said Connor Tobin, a League One player who serves on the USL Players Association executive committee, in a recent interview with a Kentucky newspaper. “It speaks to the unique challenge that we have in the United States to build out the structure.”
The USL last month awarded a League One expansion franchise to Spokane, Wash., where voters recently approved construction of a $31 million, 5,000-seat downtown stadium. A study earlier this year estimated the new venue will generate $11.4 million in annual economic benefits for that metro area, which is about the same size as Portland's.
"As with both proposals in Portland, the Spokane stadium will also be used for local high school sports, concerts and other outdoor events," Koubek told Mainebiz.
The Portland City Council's Housing & Economic Development Committee meets virtually Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Courtesy / USL to Portland
This aerial photo of Portland highlights the proposed sites for a professional soccer stadium. Option 1 is the site of the Preble Street Field site, and Option 2 is the location of Fitzpatrick Stadium.
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Anonymous
July 22, 2021
Not a good site for a stadium. A better choice would be the land adjacent to Thompson's Point, where Waynflete has two soccer fields (with a foot bridge). And why? Easy. The best stadiums today have a dynamic before and after social scene with food and drinking. Fitzpatrick and Back Cove would be a dud.
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